HEERMANN'S NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA, 267 



ZoNOTRiCHiA ATRiCAPiLLA, (Gmel.) A Very common species in the fall season, 

 when it congregates in large flocks with the two preceding species. I found the nest 

 of this bird, near Sacramento city, in a small bush. It was composed externally of 

 coarse twigs, and lined with fine roots. The eggs, four in number, are ashy white, 

 marked with lines of brown umber, sometimes appearing black, from the depth of 

 their shade. A few faint neutral tint spots are scattered over the surface of the egg. 



PipiLO ARCTicus, Swains. Very abundant, and closely resembling, in its habits, 

 our P. erythrophthalmus. The nest is made on the ground, which is slightly hollowed 

 out to receive it. It is composed externally of oak leaves and coarse weed stalks, and 

 lined with fine grasses. The eggs, four or five in number, are of a faint greenish 

 white, dotted minutely with reddish brown spots. 



PipiLO Fuscus, Swains. Abundant, and having the same habits as the preceding 

 species, except with regard to nidification, its nest always being in a bush or tree, 

 at some height from the ground. I found one nest built in a grape vine, overhanging 

 the Sacramento river, and all that I have seen were placed in the immediate vicinity 

 of water. The nest is composed of coarse twigs and grasses, and lined with fine 

 roots. The eggs, four in number, are of a pale blue color, dashed with black 

 spots, and interspersed with a few faint neutral tint blotches, which are more 

 abundant at the larger end of the egg. 



Carpodacus purpureus, (Gmel.) I did not find this bird abundant in California. 



Carpodacus familiaris, McCall. Very abundant, and found in large flocks, in the 

 fall season, feeding on the buds of the young trees. I found this species abundant at 

 Guymas, where it breeds under the eaves of the houses, in the branches of the small 

 cactus plants, and one nest I discovered in a deserted wood-pecker's hole, made in the 

 body of an upright cactus, one and a half feet in diameter and about fifteen feet high, 

 with which species of plants the country near Guymas is covered. In California I 

 found on the dwarf oaks its nest, composed of coarse grasses, and lined with fine hair. 

 The eggs, from four to six in number, are a pale blue, marked with spots and deli- 

 cate lines of black, 



CoccoBORUS coERULEUs, (Linn.) Abundant during the summer season. 



CoccoBORUS MELANOCEPHALUS, Swaius. Abundant in the country, but migrates 

 South at the approach of the inclement season. Its clear musical song, in the spring, 

 being a fac simile of our robins, T. migratorius, often recalls thoughts of home to the 

 laboring miner, as he toils at his daily task. The nest, which is made with little 

 care, is formed of a few twigs and fine roots, and generally placed on an alder bush. 

 The eggs, four in number, are greenish blue, marked with irregular spots of umber 

 brown, varying in intensity of shade. 



PvRANGA Ludoviciana, (Wils.) Not rare, and migratory. 



